Formerly Known as the Justice League

Years ago I got rid of a majority of my moderately extensive comic book collection keeping only the ones I couldn't bear to part with. So, recently I went back through the comics I had kept and found an interesting pattern. A tremendous amount of material by artist and writer Keith Giffen managed to make the final cut. After all this time it finally occurred to me. I'm a big Keith Giffen fan. So acting on this revelation I went out and bought the first Keith Giffen material I could find which happened to be this book, `Formerly Known as the Justice League'. I'd seen many of these Keith Giffen comics on the comic shelves when they originally came out including `Justice League International' and `Justice League: A New Beginning' but they looked silly with second tier heroes and quite frankly I wasn't buying comics at the time. What I learned after reading Formerly Known As... was that it doesn't matter who's in the comic. In the end good writing is what matter most. Most of the book is dialogue consisting of clever banter and exchanges of insults particularly between the two stars of the show Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. The writers also have a lot of fun with Maxwell Lord and the robot L-Ron and besides his appearance as the head of Checkmate this is my only experience with Mr. Lord and it's quite a dramatic difference. I'm not usually a fan of this much dialog but Giffen makes it so fun it never felt tedious. The writing here isn't nearly as slapstick as the venerable Ambush Bug but it remains funny. Legitimately humorous dialogue is just about the hardest thing to pull off in comics and I have to give credit to the team of Giffen and DeMatteis for years of great material that contrasts with the too often heavy tone of other DC Comics. If I would change just one thing I actually would have had Keith do the art because he's as talented at penciling as he is at writing.

As mentioned by a previous reviewer, this series is written by Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis who did the 80's campy series JUSTICE LEAGUE. These two comedic masters, with the amazingly humorous pencils of Kevin Maguire, renovated the JLA in the 80s and added something that comics needed at that time: humor. Sometime between 1986 and 1987, comics became overwhelmingly grim. Wolverine was staking his claim as a hardened good guy. Batman became known as the Dark Knight properly thanks to Frank Miller. The X-Men became more about their inabilities and personality weaknesses than about their mutant powers. Comics were becoming less fun and more "realistic" incorporating the all-heroes-have-miserable-life-issues motif into issue after issue. So the trio of Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire gave popular comics a slap in the face and fans responded by slapping their knees (while laughing, of course). So now almost 20 years later, the "Unholy Trio" prove that they still have it. Back in '87, they took unloved characters like Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Mister Miracle, and Guy Gardner (to name a few) and made them lovable fan favorites. This time around, Booster and Blue Beetle are still around, but added to the mix of heroes are Mary Marvel, Elongated Man (and wife Sue), Fire, and Captain Atom. I was initially afraid that the writers would not be able to keep their flavor fresh with humor. I was wrong. Giffen and DeMatteis are still funny and still love the characters they write. This series is about the characters, not mainly about what the characters' actions. The characters are well-written and lovable, and so what they do is just a product of their personalities with humorous and clever results. I was also initially afraid that the artist (Maguire) might have lost his ability to draw the greatest facial expressions in comics. He too still has it. In fact, he is a much better artist now. Maguire's story-telling has improved, and with that mixed with his classic ability to contort a character's face really enhances the characters. He's able to enhance a character's dialogue by their expression that so effectively conveys their emotional state and temperament. That right there really makes this book worth reading and admiring over and over. Heck, DC even got the under-rated letterer Bob Lappan in to work the whole series. If you've never really considered how a letterer can add to story-telling, then I highly suggest you give this book a gander and examine Lappan's talent for effectively enhancing a story with properly timed "tiny" letters (which I think he popularized back in the day) whenever a hero was embarassingly muttering to himself. Lappan is also able to emphasize key words without beating us readers over the head. It's really a talent to letter, or so he quietly shows us. Anyway, pick this book up. If you've never experienced a Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire book, then you need to start. They will also be working on "The New

It would be wise to ignore the review below. The reviewer states that there's no point in reading the book, as the DC universe shake up negates the story. However, that doesn't change the fact that the book is wonderfully written and penciled, with hilarious dialogue and characterizations. The back and forth between Booster Gold and the Blue Beetle is priceless. Mary Marvel doesn't want to get close to Captain Atom because of fertility issues. Beetle can't remember the phone number to the headquarters. Booster is married to a 65 year old plastic surgery addict. It goes on and on... Just because the book may be rendered "out of canon" doesn't make it any less meaningul or well done.

I'm a sucker for B-level heroes, and a series using my favorite second stringers trying to revive their lost glory is something I can't miss. The book has a number of laugh out loud moments, although sometimes I tend to get bogged down by the numerous exchanges of dialogue, sometimes it crowds out the art inside the panels. The addition of Mary Marvel is perfect, it's a wonder why she wasn't there in the previous series. I'm actually looking forward to the next book (which I hope becomes a TPB soon) where Guy Gardner makes a return, rumored to be using his old yellow power ring. Although Giffen and DeMatteis JL is more about the characters, as stated by the previous reviewer, I would've loved to see them in a "serious" fight, meaning, facing them against a legit DC villain (No more Manga Khan please). Again, my bias for second stringers saving the day shows here. Nevertheless, it's a fun book worth picking up.

When I first heard about that Giffen and J. M were getting back together for another round of non stop laughs and adventure I couldn't wait to get hold of it. And it is worth every buck! For those who are thinking that it will never be as funny or good as A New Beginning, let me tell you that you are absolutely right! This isn't as good, it's much much better! These two writers practically made the characters into what they are today. My only concern is that there were a few of my favourites from the original run these two had, missing. What is amazing is that there are no recycled jokes and everything is as fresh and new as can be. The characters have matured (and why not, it's been a while) and recruting them takes some effort but once the ball gets rolling you just have to be there. This is one book that you will defintely want to have. Even if you are not a collector. Buy it because you won't ever regret it.